


Green Dragonstone

by Gumnut



Series: Warm Rain [15]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: F/M, Geology, Pancakes, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-10 20:17:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19911577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gumnut/pseuds/Gumnut
Summary: “You’re kidding.”“N-No, I’m n-not.”“Forty-three?”“Exactly.”“Brains, I’m sorry, but why?”





	Green Dragonstone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Vegetacide](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vegetacide/gifts).



> Fandomversary Fic Three - Brains and Pancakes for @vegetacide
> 
> Because this was for Veggie, it’s Warm Rain, Virgil/Kayo.

“You’re kidding.”

“N-No, I’m n-not.”

“Forty-three?”

“Exactly.”

“Brains, I’m sorry, but why?”

“I c-calculated that the combined w-weight would be e-enough to overcome their a-adhesive pr-properties.”

He looked up at the roof of the hangar cavern so far above them. “Again, why?”

“I-It should have been simple. Apparently not so.”

Virgil stared at his fellow engineer. Beyond him, Max tilted his head like a puppy trying to understand the conversation. The silly chef’s hat on his head fell even more crooked.

A sigh and Virgil once again peered up into the dimness far above. “How the hell did he manage to fling one pancake that high, much less forty-three?”

“A-Another error on my p-part. I underestimated his en-enthusiasm.” Brains shifted from one foot to the other. “Please, V-Virgil, they are too high f-for my c-comfort and with that m-mass they are a h-hazard to Thunderbird One.”

“Scott’s reaction would not be pretty no matter where a mouldy pancake might land.” He had to consider that it would be funny, though.

But not safe.

“Okay, Brains, give me a minute and I’ll climb up there and scrape the pancakes off the ceiling.”

“Thank you, Virgil.” Heartfelt gratitude.

Virgil couldn’t help but smile. Turning towards the stairs to his workshop and equipment locker, the smile became a grin at the ludicrousness of the task ahead. His days were always full of variety, but peeling forty-three half-cooked pancakes off the hangar ceiling wasn’t one that would have occurred to him in a million years.

-o-o-o-

Fifteen minutes later found Virgil geared up in his uniform and helmet and aiming a grapple gun at the roof. Extra rope, pitons and rubbish bags hung from his hip.

“B-be careful.”

“Not a worry, Brains. I do this kind of thing all the time.”

A flick of his finger and the gun fired. A solid thunk echoed through the cavern. Relay on his heads-up display confirmed a secure hold and Virgil fastened his harness to the line.

“Going up!” A flick of controls and he was airborne. The length of Thunderbird One flashed past him as he shot upwards. Seconds and he could place his gloved hand on the rough-hewed ceiling. He activated several air-powered pitons, some rope and a few D-rings later and he was safely secured to the rock.

A glance back down at Brains and...oh, what a perspective. The cavern was huge, he knew that, but from up here...wow.

But he had pancakes to contend with. Sure enough, forty-odd pancakes made quite a messy stalactite or two. Ugh, gross. One bag wasn’t going to be enough.

Clambering across the ceiling like a crab crossed with a spider, painted blue and green, he methodically wiped hardening pancake batter off the rock. It slopped into his rubbish bag, pale slush mixed with brownings, basalt dust, and the occasional actual cave spider.

Thank goodness for gloves.

He was starting in on his second bag of mildly vomit inducing grossness when the ceiling rumbled, a deep vibration and the clunk of familiar machinery. He knew the cause before it appeared on the hangar floor and he couldn’t help but smile as Thunderbird Shadow slid into her docks far below him.

Kay was home.

It took him another minute to realise she was going to find him a few dozen metres up in the air.

The mere thought of the resultant frown had him moving just that bit quicker.

The ceiling was made of mostly solid basalt, an extremely sturdy igneous rock produced by the now extinct volcano that had created the island. The majority of the cavern was naturally formed, but his father and Brains had used automated mining equipment to carve out the extra needed space in the hangars and model the caves into what they needed them to be. In this particular section of the roof, he could see the remains of the great rock grinders. There were also some areas of erosion prevention using a long life version of the same nano-concrete formula in Two’s equipment bay. As he moved across the ceiling, he came across a natural niche in the rock the grinders hadn’t tackled.

He reached in and scooped out the two pancakes that had managed to lodge in there.

Something caught the light.

He frowned and flicked on his lamp, pushing away the shadows.

There was something green in there.

Crab-like across the ceiling, he installed another piton and secured his rope in order to get closer. The niche was small, little more than a foot wide. The green caught the light of his lamp and shone back at him. What the-?

Comms crackle. “Virgil, what are you doing all the way up there?”

Okay, he jumped, snatching back the hand that was reaching for the green crystal formation hidden in the pocket of basalt.

“Uh, Kay?”

He looked down and sure enough, there she was staring up at him, hands on her hips. He couldn’t see the frown from here, but he didn’t have to. It was there, no doubt.

Brains and Max had retreated a few steps away.

“Pancakes, Virgil?”

“Hey, someone has to clean the ceiling from time to time. You wouldn’t believe the cobwebs.”

“Do you need a hand?”

He glanced at the crystal, still sparkling in his lamp light. “No, nearly done. Be down shortly.”

“Looking forward to it.”

He grinned. “FAB.”

Pulling his small laser cutter from his toolkit, he reached up and carefully cut the palm sized crystal out of the rock. As it landed in his hand, it’s rounded green glassy shape shone refractions onto his glove.

He stashed it in his baldric.

A few more pancakes and the ceiling was as tidy as it could be. He disengaged several of the ropes, withdrew the pitons and carefully lowered himself down to the floor.

Kay, of course, was waiting for him.

“Not what I expected to find you doing, love.”

He grinned as he drew her to him. “What did you expect to find me doing?”

“Uh, V-Virgil, one of the bags is l-leaking.”

He looked down to find a boot covered in grey pancake batter. “Ergh.”

Kay snickering behind a hand didn’t help.

-o-o-o-

It took him months.

He had studied sculpture at one point in his art training, but never gem cutting. So, random off hours found him researching, purchasing and, with some acquired crystal, practising.

His artistic flare served him well and his aptitude with tools even more, but he made sure to create several prototypes before even looking at the stone he had pulled from the ceiling.

A little investigation and a consultation with a mineralogist proved it to be olivine, peridot in this form, and a beautiful piece. He had had to lift the specimen out of the woman’s hand for fear she might run off with it.

Once he knew its properties, he could learn how to manipulate it. Like any artistic medium, he just needed to know how it worked and how to get it to do what he wanted.

Because he knew exactly what he wanted to create.

It was late at night, hidden away in his workshop, when he drew the green dragon from the stone.

It echoed the dragons on his engagement ring, but its tail wrapped around itself in the sign for infinity before dropping to a point. Half folded wings formed the atriums of a green heart bracketing that point and the dragon snarled out between them.

The gentlest touch, the finest polish, he held his breath as he cut and finished it. It was far from perfect. The crystal itself wasn’t pure, several ribbons of other minerals streaking through the green, but in his opinion that just made it more beautiful.

When he was satisfied with the result, he strung it on a silver chain and, wrapping it in soft cloth, placed it in a little wooden box.

He kept it in his bedside drawer.

He kept it for her.

For a very special day.

-o-o-o-


End file.
